Termite damage repairs and control costs in the United States exceeds five billion dollars per year, and subterranean termites are responsible for inflicting the greatest amount of property damage within the United States. The most damaging subterranean termite species in the country include eastern subterranean termites, dark southern subterranean termites, and light southern subterranean termites. The most voracious subterranean termite species in the country may be the non-native Formosan subterranean termite, which established an invasive population in southeast Texas and other areas along the Gulf Coast several decades ago. These termites consume wood at a much faster rate than native subterranean termite species, but this is due to the larger size of Formosan colonies, and not necessarily because Formosans are faster eaters. While drywood termite species cannot be found, or do not pose a significant economic threat in most areas of the US, they are tremendously destructive insect pests to structures in Texas. Multiple drywood termite species infest structures in Texas, but the western drywood termite species is by far the most damaging of all.
Unlike subterranean termites, which infest homes from the ground up, drywood termites do not make contact with the ground soil, and they dwell entirely within natural and finished wood sources. Drywood termite infestations are less common than subterranean infestations, as drywood termite colonies do not contain workers that forage away from their nests; instead, drywood termites infest homes as swarming alates. These reproductive swarmers emerge from nests each year during the spring or summer, which does not give these termites many opportunities to locate houses to infest. Indoor swarms indicate that a colony must be present within the structure, and these swarms are often the first sign of an active infestation. Since drywood termite colonies require a few years of maturation before reproductive swarming alates can be produced, indoor swarms indicate that the infestation has been active for quite some time. Swarming alates are poor flyers and many are not able to fly as far as ten feet upon emerging from a nest, but mediocre flyers can travel as far as 75 to 100 feet, and the strongest flyers can travel as far as 250 feet. If a male and female pair of reproductive alates land on a home’s roof, siding or on an indoor structural wood source, they will mate and start a new colony as queen and king.
Have you ever witnessed a termite swarm?
